91Èȱ¬

Hidden in the heart of Southwark on London's South Bank, buried between skyscrapers and stations, are a set of iron gates festooned with photos, ribbons and other memento mori which open into a garden - Crossbones, the site of a medieval sex workers graveyard. Known as the Winchester Geese, these women were licensed by the Bishop of Winchester, whose Palace was nearby, and plied their trade in the Southwark streets across the River Thames from the respectable City of London.

In 1997, the writer John Constable had what he calls a 'visitation' which showed him the location of the graveyard and, following excavations, it was confirmed as the site of Crossbones.

Grace Reeve's Gold Charles Parker Prize-winning feature uses extracts from Constable's Southwark Mysteries and Spark in the Dark to explore the history of the burial site, the battle for its survival and the unique rites and rituals that keep memories alive and create new traditions.

Grace is studying an MA in Audio, Radio and Podcasting at Goldsmiths, University of London. The judges said her Gold Prize winning feature, The Outcast Dead and Alive, was “fantastical, bonkers and rather wonderful. Unusual, profound and embedded deep in the social history of ordinary people: it's made me want to go visit the graveyard!"

With special thanks to the Bankside Open Spaces Trust and the Friends of Crossbones. The songs, incantations and poetry are by John Constable and performed at the Ribbon Gates by the Heathen Harlots.

Producer: Grace Reeve
A Soundscape production for 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4